


Character Biography: Gaius

by Taleslations



Series: Tales of Xillia Character Bios [7]
Category: Tales of Xillia
Genre: Archived From Tumblr, Character Biography, Character Study, Fanwork Research & Reference Guides, Gen, Meta Essay, Nonfiction, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2018-12-14
Packaged: 2019-09-18 05:48:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16989198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taleslations/pseuds/Taleslations
Summary: A biography of the Dawn King.





	Character Biography: Gaius

**Full name:** Arst Outway  
**Year of birth:** Trames 2261  
**Place of birth:** Auj Oule – Outway territories  
**Age:** 32  
**Height:** 185cm/6'1"  
**Family:** Karla Outway (sister), unnamed parents (deceased)

### Childhood

Gaius, then named Arst, was born in the small Outway tribe, which was under the control of the larger Long Dau tribe. His father was the tribe patriarch, and though he was weak and sickly, he was both strict and sensible, which made him a good chief. At the time, social division was strong due to the tribe system. The country was ruled by a king, Merad Sarakhs [1], and big influential tribes such as the Long Dau tribe or the Kitarl tribe. The other, smaller tribes had little power of their own and conflict was common. [3]

Arst is unofficially the youngest person to have won in the coliseum, as he was 12 when he accomplished that feat, without even using a Lilium Orb. However, as his opponent in the finals was the son of a tribe chief who was close to the king, his victory was never officially recognized. [4]

His little sister, Karla, was engaged to an older man of the Long Dau tribe who was close to the Long Dau patriarch and his son. [4]

### The Fezebel War

In Trames 2273, Milan Fenn, king of the country of Rashugal, fell ill and died without naming a successor, prompting his two eldest sons to start fighting for the throne. King Merad seized the occasion to invade Rashugal, and both armies clashed in the Fezebel Outback. [5]

Arst joined the Long Dau tribe’s ranks instead of his father, who was too frail to fight a war, and brought the Outway soldiers to the Long Dau capital before they all departed to the battlefield [6]. The Long Dau leaders underestimated him because of his young age and did not hold any expectations for him [6], but he proved to be an excellent soldier and leader, and his unit took out one of the Rashugal army’s regiments. Arst was one of the first who sensed the giant tsunami coming, and he tried to warn the Long Dau chief, Lars Long Dau, so that they could retreat to safety. However, his sister’s fiancé convinced Chief Lars to keep fighting and Arst’s warning was ignored. As a result, a large part of both armies, among which most of the Outway men, were swept away by the tsunami. This put a halt to the war. [5]

Karla’s fiancé survived the tsunami but never came back from the war. Arst is rumored to have murdered him, but the truth will forever remain unknown. [7]

### Revolution

The disaster left Arst bitter. He was angry with the current tribe system, which allowed incompetent people to become rulers just because they were born in the right tribe. He started to develop a vision of Auj Oule where the country would be unified under one single strong leader who would take care of every citizen and not sacrifice the weak. [7]

After his father died of illness, Arst left his home and formed an organization called Taurus, independent from the tribe system, which would carry his ideals. He changed his name to Gaius, which means “he who pulls the world behind him," and severed his ties with his sister so that she would not be harmed because of him. He was quite popular amongst his followers, who started to call him “The Dawn King." The first known feat of his revolution, a little before the creation of Taurus, was his victory against Lars Long Dau in Trames 2276. [8] When he started rebelling against them, Lars Long Dau took a few men with him to subdue him, but greatly underestimated Gaius and lost the battle. His death earned Gaius the tribe’s animosity. Taurus opposed the main tribes, and clashed with the Long Dau, which were determined to avenge its leader, on several occasions. [9]

In Trames 2278, Taurus and the Long Dau tribe, led by its young new leader Līn, clashed one last time in the Battle of Mon Highlands. Like during the Fezebel War, Gaius foresaw a natural disaster coming: he deduced that if both armies were to clash there, they would cause an avalanche that would likely engulf them both. Trying to prevent another catastrophe, he went to meet Līn in person to warn him about the incoming danger. When asked why he had not simply taken advantage of the avalanche to wipe out his enemy, he replied that those soldiers would one day be precious warriors who would support his country and help him forge a new path for the good of his people, and he did not want them to lose their lives meaninglessly. Gaius left a profound impression on the young chief, who took his warning seriously and had his troops retreat. The avalanche happened without causing many victims. The next day, Līn surrendered to him and later became his right-hand man and most trusted ally – Wingul. [8][10]

### The Dawn King

In Trames 2283, Gaius and his ever-growing army finally seized Kanbalar, which was no easy feat, as the city has the best natural defenses in all Rieze Maxia. He proclaimed himself king of Auj Oule, but Merad managed to escape and tried to strike back with help from Rashugal. However, Gaius defeated him once and for all in the Battle of Arklund. [1]

Taurus was dismantled once Gaius became king, but most of its members got high ranks in the new Auj Oule army. [1]

Gaius introduced a lot of reforms, such as the banning of fights to the death in the coliseum. The big tribes lost their power and he united the whole of Auj Oule under him. While Merad had ruled as a tyrant, Gaius cares about his people and listens to their demands. He spends a large part of his days meeting the people in his castle, and if important matters arise, he often goes and sees for himself. This makes him a well-loved and respected ruler of his country, and his popularity even spreads to Rashugal.

### The Chimeriad

Over the years, Gaius found other people to serve as his personal bodyguards. They took on the name “Chimeriad” when their group was completed after the Battle of Shrade Island in Trames 2291, where the five of them wiped out a company of 120 Rashugal men who Nachtigal had sent to invade the island [11]

The name “Chimeriad” comes from the legend of the birth of Auj Oule – it is said that the Chimera was a giant monster that Kresnik the Sage fought in ancient times. According to the legend, Kresnik cut the Chimera into pieces with her lance, and the pieces formed the country of Auj Oule. The four members of the Chimeriad are all named after a body part of the monster. [1]

### The Lance of Kresnik and Milla’s Influence

When Gaius learned about the existence of the Lance of Kresnik, he decided to take control of it, not because he wanted power, but because he believed that such a powerful weapon could only be wielded right in the hands of someone strong enough to assume the responsibilities that came with it. He believed that his keeping it would prevent further wars, because it would act as a repellent, but he had no intention of using it himself. [3]

He clashed with Milla Maxwell over this matter, because she believed that the Lance should be destroyed – even if Gaius proved strong enough to not succumb to the temptation of using it, he would not be around eternally to watch over it. He realized that he had not considered the long term seriously enough, and he found new resolve as to what his role as king meant. The answer he gave Milla was that the strong ones must support and guide the weak until they become strong in turn. He believes that the strong ones have a duty to move the world forward. He and Milla were very similar on many points, but their disagreement over what to do with the Lance lead them to fight each other during the Battle of Fezebel, which opposed Auj Oule and Rashugal once again in the Fezebel Marsh.

But once the Lance was fired and soldiers from Elympios invaded Rieze Maxia, he chose to save her, and they joined forces to reclaim Kanbalar and fight Gilland. They were still in disagreement over certain issues, but they recognized each other’s value. After her death, Gaius commented that never before had a woman had such a strong impact on him as Milla.

### Jude’s Growth and Elympios

Gaius had always seen Jude as one of the weak, admiring the strong ones (Milla, in this case), but never dreaming of becoming one himself. However, the Jude he met again after Milla’s sacrifice was different. He had found his own resolve, and had become one of the strong ones. Milla and Jude were live examples of his ideal.

However, new divergences of opinion lead them to oppose each other once more. Faced with the threat of spyrixes, Gaius chose to save Rieze Maxia first, even if it meant leaving Elympios to its fate. For that, he, with the help of Muzét, imprisoned Maxwell within the Lance of Kresnik to keep the schism intact, and went to Elympios, where he decided to destroy spyrixes, starting at the source, the spyrix research facility at Helioborg. While Muzét wanted to destroy each and every spyrix, he decided to start with military ones at first, and realized that he would need to consider what to do in the case of spyrixes such as medical ones that improve weak people's lives. [24]

Milla and Jude, on the other hand, realized how important spyrixes were to the people of Elympios, and decided to find a way for them to keep them without endangering spirits or Rieze Maxians. That led to the discovery of spyrites, spyrixes that did not kill spirits. But a lot of research was needed to even hope that spyrites could work, and Gaius thought that there was not enough time for that. A final confrontation was unavoidable.

Gaius eventually lost his fight against them, and decided to believe in Jude and see what kind of future he would bring to the world. Milla releasing the schism and becoming the new Maxwell would give them enough time to find a solution to the spyrix problem.

### The King of Rieze Maxia

With King Nachtigal’s death, Rashugal was in chaos. The threat posed by Exodus had given both countries a common cause, which enabled Gaius, with help from Rowen, to unite both countries. By treating the people of Rashugal not as defeated enemies, but as equal people of Rieze Maxia, he quickly earned their trust and respect. After the events of the game and the release of the schism, he started working with Rowen and Elympios’ Prime Minister Marcia to forge peace and understanding between the two worlds.

### Trivia

  * When he was a kid, he was very active and playful, and loved climbing on trees. That earned him the nickname “Monkey." [12]
  * Gaius can withstand cold very well. When he was in his twenties, he apparently used to get out in the snow with short sleeves and eat icicles as candy (ice cream in the localization). [13]
  * Despite not seeing her often anymore, he still loves his sister a lot. She chose to stay away from him so he would not have to choose between her and his country.
  * He finds Karla very scary when she’s angry. [14]
  * He was in Xian Du at the time the party first was, but decided to leave them alone so as not to ruin the festival for his people. He and the Chimeriad left the city before the tournament started. [25]
  * During their first trip to Trigleph, he prevented Muzét from killing an Elympion boy who was using a medical spyrix to be able to walk. [24]
  * He plays shogi (chess in the localization). [15]
  * His favorite dish is chocolate parfait. He likes all kinds of sweets. [16] He dislikes spicy food. [17]
  * He likes alcohol and usually holds his liquor quite well, but soju inexplicably makes him drunk really fast. He talks like a Katz when he’s drunk. [18]
  * His favorite pets are cats. [19]
  * Despite his imposing look, he’s actually pretty good with kids. [20]
  * When they were younger, he and Wingul made up a secret code based on puns. [21] In the localization, it’s a song about their Linked Mystic Arte.
  * He can speak Long Dau.
  * He is bad with technology. It took him ages to get used to GHS. That said, he’s actually a fast typer once he got the hang of it, but sometimes still makes mistakes like trying to type the message in the header etc. Rowen choose his wallpaper for him and he’s not able to change it himself.
  * He’s a sword maniac.
  * He never backs down from a challenge. [22]
  * According to Muzét, he is quite the forceful type when direct-tethering. [23]
  * He listens to Presa's fashion advice. [25]
  * When he cannot find Wingul in his castle, he goes to find him rather than wait for him to come back, even if he is in another city. [25]
  * He takes the distribution of Gaius Dmplings seriously. [25]
  * He banned (original) or tried to revise (localization) the Gaius Dumplings jingle Wingul composed. [see [Wingul's bio](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16988301) for lyrics]
  * He gives formal orders to rest to Wingul when he works too much, but refuses to listen when Wingul tries to say the same should apply to him. [25]
  * He often looks serious but has a sense of humor and makes jokes when the situation calls for it. People never know whether he’s joking or not though.
  * Contact with people is his favorite aspect of his job.
  * After the Chimeriad's deaths, he couldn't bring himself to form another group of bodyguards.
  * There are two versions of his real name in the localization: “Erston” in the Karla sidequests and Xillia 2, and “Arst” in Wingul’s battle quotes. “Arst” is the original name.
  * One of the Karla sidequests says that he was 20 during the Fezebel war. That is a translation mistake. He was 12 at the time.



**Author's Note:**

>  **References**  
>  [1] ToX Perfect Guide  
> [2] ToX Sub Event “Gaius, the king”  
> [3] ToX Official World Guidance Book, p.73  
> [4] ToX Sub Event “The History of Auj Oule (2)”  
> [5] ToX Sub Event “The History of Auj Oule (3)”  
> [6] ToX Fan’s Bible, p.115  
> [7] ToX Sub Event “The History of Auj Oule (4)”  
> [8] ToX Sub Event “The History of Auj Oule (5)”  
> [9] ToX Fan’s Bible, p.116  
> [10] ToX Fan’s Bible, p.117  
> [11] ToX Skit 068 “The Chimeriad”  
> [12] ToX2 Gaius Episode 3  
> [13] ToX2 ETC Skit 19 “The Snow Kingdom, Kanbalar”  
> [14] ToX2 Short Skit  
> [15] ToX2 Skit  
> [16] ToX2 Perfect Guide  
> [17] ToX2 ETC Skit 39 “Special Mabo Curry”  
> [18] ToX2 ETC Skit 22 “Drellin Speciality”  
> [19] ToX2 Short Skit  
> [20] ToX2 ETC Skit 29 “Elle and the King”  
> [21] ToX2 Link Mystic Arte name change conversation scene.  
> [22] ToX2 ETC Skit 04 “Cat Emperor”  
> [23] ToX2 ETC Skit 25 “Direct-Tethering”  
> [24] ToX Drama CD CM84  
> [25] ToX Drama CD CM85


End file.
